While you're all losing your minds over ChatGPT and the latest influencer marketing bollocks, I want to tell you about a brand that was doing proper marketing before most of you knew the difference between reach and frequency. And unlike most success stories, they're still getting most of it spectacularly right.
Baguette et Baguette didn't just enter the Tunisian fast food market in 1996 – they bloody well revolutionized it. But more importantly for those of you pretending to understand brand strategy, they did it by following principles that would make Byron Sharp weep with joy. The remarkable thing? They're still thriving today.
The Art of Being Annoyingly Right Before Everyone Else
Picture this: Tunisia, 1996. The local food scene had all the sophistication of a focus group discussing emoji preferences. Then B&B rocks up with American-style operations, proper supply chain management, and – brace yourselves – actual customer experience design.
They introduced cross-selling when most restaurants couldn't even manage basic selling. They had digital order tracking when competitors were still shouting numbers across crowded kitchens. Every sauce packet was individually wrapped when others were ladling condiments from communal buckets like some sort of medieval feast.
This wasn't just operational excellence masquerading as innovation. This was systematic brand building through every possible touchpoint. The kind of integrated thinking that most of your agencies charge extra for and then completely cock up.
Brand Codes That Actually Work (Revolutionary Concept, I Know)
Here's what separates real marketers from the PowerPoint merchants: B&B understood that distinctive assets aren't just pretty logos for your Instagram feed. Their yellow-black-white palette was strategically deployed across every surface, creating what we call "mental availability" – though I suspect half of you think that's a new wellness trend.
The Delighter Strategy (Before Someone Ruined It With Jargon)
B&B mastered what Kano would call "delighters" – those unexpected moments that transform satisfied customers into evangelical advocates. Special sauces, surprise nuggets, unique potato preparations. Small touches that cost pennies but create disproportionate brand love.
For those of you who skipped quality management theory (probably most of you), the Kano model identifies three types of customer requirements: basic expectations (hygiene factors that customers assume), performance attributes (the more you deliver, the more satisfied they become), and delighters (unexpected features that create disproportionate satisfaction).
Most fast food chains obsess over performance attributes – faster service, more options, bigger portions. B&B understood that delighters create the real competitive advantage. That sauce classique nobody expected. Those special fries that weren't on the menu. The little surprises that cost almost nothing but create stories customers actually tell their friends.
While other chains were standardizing everything to death, B&B was systematically creating positive deviations from expectation. That's not operational inconsistency – that's strategic customer experience design.
They also understood cognitive ease before it became a LinkedIn buzzword. Simple ingredient lists, question-based ordering instead of endless customization hell, and obsessive attention to cleanliness and order. While competitors were adding complexity like it was a KPI, B&B was removing friction.
This is brand building 101: make it easy to buy, hard to forget, and impossible to replicate exactly.
But the real genius? That sandwich shape. Long, slim, crunchy, and utterly unmistakable. While global chains were spending millions on logo recognition, B&B created distinctiveness through product design itself. You could identify their sandwich blindfolded, which is more than most brands can say about their entire product range.
The Archetype Mastery You're All Getting Wrong
B&B nailed the innocent-magician combination that most brands spend years trying to figure out. Friendly, approachable, slightly cheeky – but with operational magic that felt effortless. Their yellow branding wasn't just "happy colors" – it was strategic psychology creating emotional association with optimism and ease.
From kids' boxes with toys to games printed on tray papers, they understood that brand experience extends far beyond the core product. Every touchpoint reinforced the same personality: we're serious about food but not serious about ourselves.
Where They Could Polish Their Game (Not That They're Bollocking It Up)
Now, before you think I've gone soft, B&B isn't perfect. Their Facebook advertising, while consistent with their brand voice, could use more emotional punch. It's competent but safe – product shots and promotional messages that do the job without setting the world on fire.
They've also created what I call "targeting complexity" – not confusion, mind you, but an interesting challenge. Their communications speak directly to Gen Z and millennials with derja slang and pop culture references, yet their restaurants attract a much broader demographic. This isn't necessarily wrong, but it's worth examining.
The question isn't whether they're excluding customers – clearly they're not, given their success. It's whether they're missing opportunities to create even stronger emotional connections with their broader audience base.
The Category Entry Points Catastrophe
Here's where B&B's current marketing team reveals they've never read "How Brands Grow" or understood a single thing about mental availability. They're completely ignoring the category entry points that could drive actual growth.
People don't wake up thinking "I need Baguette et Baguette." They think "I want something that's not greasy," or "I need the healthiest fast food option," or "Quick lunch that won't make me feel terrible afterward."
These are category entry points – the mental pathways that lead to brand consideration. And B&B is doing precisely bugger all to own them in their advertising. Instead, they're posting endless product shots like some sort of digital catalogue from 2005.
They should be building campaigns around "Remember when fast food was simple?" for nostalgic comfort seekers. "I'm treating myself but responsibly" for guilt-free indulgence. "Where can we all eat and everyone's happy?" for family dining occasions. "Neutral place to grab food and talk" for meeting spots.
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute proved that mental availability depends on the breadth of category entry points your brand is linked to and the strength of those links. B&B understood this instinctively in 1996, and while they're doing well today, there's untapped potential here for even greater growth.
The Identity Crisis That Nobody Asked For
The 2014 "Je Suis Tunisien" rebrand was peak panic marketing. When international chains entered Tunisia, B&B's response was to suddenly discover their Tunisian roots after years of building a refined, international brand personality.
While I understand the defensive positioning, creating cognitive dissonance with your established brand codes is marketing suicide. You can't spend decades building associations with French sophistication and American efficiency, then suddenly wrap yourself in the Tunisian flag and expect customers to follow along.
Pick an identity and stick with it. Brand schizophrenia isn't a strategy.
The One Thing They Got Spectacularly Right
Their delivery platform deserves a bloody marketing award. "Baguette Delivery" – simple name that instantly communicates function. Zero cognitive load navigation. Customization that creates the IKEA effect where customers feel ownership over their creation.
This is digital transformation done properly: enhancing the brand experience rather than replacing it with some soulless app interface designed by people who dont understand fast food.
How to Take It From Great to Legendary
B&B is already successful – don't mistake strategic suggestions for crisis management. But here's how they could leverage their strong foundation for even greater impact:
First, while their millennial-focused communications work well, there's opportunity to create content that resonates with their full demographic spectrum without losing their distinctive voice. Byron Sharp didn't write "How Brands Grow" so successful brands could leave growth opportunities on the table.
Second, add more emotional storytelling to their advertising mix. Their functional messaging is solid, but audiences crave narrative tension and emotional connection. Not because what they're doing is wrong, but because what they could do is even better.
Third, fully leverage those distinctive assets I mentioned. That sandwich shape, those brand colors, that operational excellence – these competitive advantages could be pushed even harder in their communications.
Finally, systematically own more category entry points. Create campaigns around those buying occasions that drive consideration. This isn't fixing broken marketing – it's taking good marketing and making it exceptional.
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